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NELSON BOAT OWNERS CLUB

NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2013

Picture of Peter Taselaar’s ‘Bambola’ a Nelson 40 built by Simon Mayes’ company Nelson Engineering in Bembridge in 1986

by Steve Brenner

Hon. Secretary

This year we were all very sad to learn of the sudden

death of our esteemed, illustrious and much-loved Secre-

tary and Treasurer, Simon Mayes.

Simon ran the NBOC tirelessly for 28 years, shortly after

the club’s inception in 1985. He organised the club’s

many UK rallies and winter lunches , dealt with the new

(and existing) members and did the club’s accounts,

bookwork and banking. Each year he meticulously up-

dated, printed and distributed the booklet of members

and boats, organised events and contacted all members

by post up until recently when email contact started to

become the norm. For one individual to do this, espe-

cially by post (we have 140 members), was a very large

undertaking.

It was Simon’s great gift that he could do all of this and

make it appear to everyone that it was easy. In truth, he

devoted a large amount of his time to making things run

smoothly and seamlessly, for which we owe him a great

deal.

I am sure that Simon would have wanted the club to con-

tinue and to flourish.

To this end the Committee, under the careful guidance of

Colin Pollard (our Vice Commander) decided to elect sev-

eral flag officers to do what Simon had done so well be-

fore. Our UK Committee now comprises:

Harry Standley—Honorary Treasurer

Steve Brenner— Honorary Secretary

Graham Hitchock—Flag Officer

Paul Gamsa—Flag Officer

Peter Matthews—Flag Officer

Adriaan Roosen—Flag Officer

John Simmonds—Flag Officer


Graham Hitchcock, Paul Gamsa, the newly elected John

Simmonds and Steve Brenner will collectively organise

events, rallies, dinners and cruises using the best of each

person’s skills.

Peter Matthews will be continuing with his video inter-

views of the important people related to designing and

producing Nelsons over the years. Adrian Roosen will

continue to advise and co-ordinate with our Dutch

friends.

The NBOC Dutch Committee is currently headed by Hans

Hofsteenge. At the 2013 Dutch summer rally in Enkhui-

sen two committee members resigned and Hans is now

looking for new operational committee members. Please

contact Hans if you are interested!

2013 has already proven to be a great success. Graham

moved our winter lunch from March 2013, when Simon

was first taken ill, to November. The lunch was once

again held at the Watermen’s Hall in the City of London,

the home of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen

of The River Thames. The Watermen who carried passen-

gers and the Lightermen who carried cargo on the River

Thames, working between Gravesend and Windsor and

joined by Act of Parliament in 1555, completed building

the Hall in 1780 and this is where the company remains

today.

We had a great turnout of 43 members and were greeted

by a “Dogget’s” winner wearing his traditional orange/red

coat and badge costume. A member of the Company was

on hand to speak about the history and present day func-

tion of the Company and describe some of the many arte-

facts and treasures of historic interest on display. Every-

one seemed to enjoy the atmosphere and presentation

by one of the winning “Dogget’s”.

For those members who are not Watermen, and there are

members who are, further information concerning the

venue together with photographs of the Hall, details of

“Dogget’s” and The Company of Watermen and Lighter-

men of the River Thames and it’s history can be found at:

http://www.watermenshall.co.uk

Our 2013 rally in June was held in the Nelson boat’s birth-

place, Bembridge. We had a super turnout with 23 boats

and 60 people, a near record, only bettered in 2012 when

our many Dutch friends with their boats came to England

to join the rally and ‘J Class’ event in the Solent.

John Simmonds organised a “Bring your own food and

drink” Saturday lunch on the Duver quayside (the Dutch

call this a ‘pot luck’ meal). Despite high winds, which

threatened to stop proceedings, we managed to find a

sheltered corner of the quay near to John’s workshop and

it was a great success.

Attendees of the Dutch Summer Rally 2013 in Enkhuizen


Following the lunch 60 of us visited the Bembridge Life-

boat Station (37 had originally signed up for this!) to see

John’s brother (the lifeboats Coxswain) and the magnifi-

cent new life boat in its new £12 million station in Bem-

bridge.

Dinner in the Bembridge Sailing Club was as enjoyable as

ever ,with an interesting and entertaining speech by An-

thony Brindle, arranged by Graham Hitchcock.

The Dutch Summer NBOC Rally was held in Enkhuizen

and organised by Floor and Ineke Heijn. The rally was a

success with a boat trip to the nearby ‘Open Air Muse-

um of Holland’ in Enkhuizen and a lovely meal on Satur-

day evening. . Floor and Ineke managed to continue

with the rally despite grave news of their young grand-

son who was seriously injured by a dragster whilst with

his father, and who died a few days after the rally. Our

thoughts and condolences go out to Floor, Ineke and

their family for their tragic loss.

There was also a Dutch Winter Lunch in March (2013)

hosted by Alice Huisman and her husband Hans Hofsten-

ge at the Royal Huisman Shipyard in Vollenhove. Alt-

hough the Huisman yard had previously built two Nel-

son 42 MkIIs, the vessels normally built by the yard are

from 30 metres up to 150 metres. We were treated to a

very interesting presentation of the history of the Huis-

man Shipyard, with mid-morning coffee and cake fol-

lowed by a tour of the yard and a sumptuous lunch.

(Simon Mayes was to have come but was taken ill only

days before the event.)

The coming year, 2014, will see a winter lunch in Hol-

land in Harlingen (which is situated at the east of the

Afsluitdijk which links the province of North Holland to

Friesland). It will be held at the Northline Shipyard

where they build Dutch Nelsons on 22nd March 2014.

Hans Hofsteenge is organising this.

Contact: [email protected].

The 2014 UK summer rally is booked for the weekend of

20th—22nd June in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight with dinner

at the Royal Solent Yacht Club. Following the AGM on

Sunday (22nd) there will be a cruise to the Channel Is-

lands for those who wish to participate—please contact

Paul Gamsa for further details.

Contact: [email protected].

The 2014 Dutch summer rally will be held during the last

weekend of August (29th—31st) in an area of outstand-

ing natural beauty called the Biesbosch National Park.

Andries de Nachtegaal is organising this. Please contact

him if you need more information.

Contact: [email protected]

2014 is also a special year, as it is the 50th Anniversary

of the Nelson 40. Further details of these celebrations

to follow.

We all look forward to a great season in 2014!

For the 2014 programme of events please see the infor-

mation at the end of this newsletter and on our website:

www.nelsonboatowners.co.uk

Lunch on the quay, Bembridge 2013 Dinner at the BSC, June 2013


By Harry Standley

Towards the end of last year it

was announced that the Cruising

Association Baltic Section Rally for

2013 would be in St Petersburg,

during the last week of June.

“That sounds good”, I thought. I

had always wanted to go to Russia

but did not fancy going in alone

and joining the CA rally seemed

like the ideal way to do it. Also,

the timing was perfect for me as a

farmer—it would not clash with

harvest and I had already met Vla-

dimir Ivankiv (CA HLR in St Peters-

burg) a couple of times at Baltic

parties.

So, my wife Alison and I decided

to sign up for the rally. Things

changed dramatically in the early

part of the year when I had a tele-

phone call from section secretary

Graham Cattell, asking me if I

would be rally Captain.“I know

you will get there, Harry, in your

Nelson, so that is why I am asking

you”, he said.

Russia is full of interest and culture but Soviet bureaucracy dies hard

He must have caught me in a weak mo-

ment as I found I had said “Yes, that’s

fine” before I had realised exactly what

I had taken on!

Most boats met up in Helsinki at the

HSK Harbour where they had very kind-

ly given us a discounted rate to stay

both before and after the rally.

We arrived there on June 11 to find

that eight out of the 12 boats on the

rally and Graham and Fay in their yel-

low peril (campervan) were already

there. The 13th boat, Symphony, un-

fortunately had withdrawn due to

Geoff’s ill health.

This spell in Helsinki gave us time to get

to know one another and sort out a

few problems as well as fitting in an

enjoyable beach BBQ.

The plan was for the boats to go into

Russia in groups so that Vladimir did

not have to make the long journey to

Kronstadt, where yachts are now

cleared into Russia, too many times.

We decided to go in early so that we

Eric von Troil, the CA HLR in Helsinki, gives a vital briefing at the beginning

Peterhof—The Summer Palace

Nelson 40 “Martha Gunn” to St Petersburg, Russia 2013


would be able to brief the rest of the

fleet when they arrived.

So we left Helsinki on June 16,

bound for Loviisa in Finland, which

was just over half way to

Haapasaari, an island off the Finnish

coast where we were to obtain Cus-

toms clearance for leaving the EU.

We arrived there the following day

and, after gaining permission from

the authorities, were able to stay on

the Customs quay overnight. We

had the afternoon to spare to ex-

plore this very pretty island.

We cleared Customs at about 20.00

that evening, as we wanted to make

an early start the next day, which we

did, leaving Haapasaari at 07.00

Finnish time.

We had a moderate westerly wind

to start with as we made our way

into Russian waters to follow the

shipping lane into St Petersburg.

It is necessary to stay in the desig-

nated shipping lanes in Russia, which

can be a nuisance for yachts, if you

have to tack.

The wind picked up quite quickly, to

F 5/6, fortunately westerly, which

gave us an exciting ride to Kronstadt,

St Petersburg rallygoers enjoy a tour of the city’s canals

surfing down some of the larger

waves, causing the GPS to record 19.3

knots on several occasions.

We arrived safely at the Customs post

in Kronstadt at 12.30 Finnish time

(13.30 Russian time) giving us an av-

erage speed of 14.5 knots for the 80

mile passage. Vladimir was there to

meet us and help with the customs

and immigration formalities. We

managed to clear customs in one

hour, which considering the amount

of forms and crew lists and boat regis-

tration papers we had to provide, and

lots of stamping forms by the Rus-

sian officials, was not bad.

We then had to go a further 15

miles in the enclosed water be-

tween Kronstadt and St Petersburg

to the Central River YC, which was

our designated place to stay.

We were issued with a form telling

us that we must go straight there

by a designated fairway and were

not allowed to deviate from our

course or stop and anchor. Soviet

bureaucracy dies hard!

We arrived at Central River YC with

its imposing clubhouse. Unfortu-

nately, the facilities there did not

match up to the building itself. At

best they were just adequate.

Vladimir was again there to meet us

and he directed us to a berth adja-

cent to a huge red motor yacht,

which was at least 120ft long and

belonged to a local oil oligarch.

We then spent some very useful

time with Vladimir, gleaning infor-

mation from him about shops,

transport and restaurants as well as

going over the rally programme. Harry Stanley’s “Martha Gunn” (navy hull) is dwarfed by an oligarch’s superyacht


One boat beat us to St Petersburg, David

in Sahula having arrived the day before.

The rest of the fleet arrived later that

week, with the last boat arriving on Sun-

day, June 23.

That evening we had a briefing for the

fleet, running through the very packed

programme for the next five days.

All of the rallygoers owe Vladimir a huge

thank you for all his work with customs

clearance and for organising an excellent

programme which was:

Monday, June 24: City tour by coach in the

morning and afternoon visit to the Russian

Museum. Evening visit to a Russian folk

show.

Tuesday, June 25: Visit to St Peter & Paul

Fortress and Cathedral. Afternoon visit to

The Hermitage (Winter Palace). Evening

visit to the ballet.

Wednesday, June 26: All day visit to Pe-

terhof, the Summer Palace of Catherine

the Great. Evening visit to the Opera.

Thursday, June 27: All day visit to Repino,

the home of the famous Russian artist and

sculptor Ilya Repin. Evening “not to teeto-

tal” cruise of the canals.

Friday, June 28: Free day with the farewell

dinner in the evening.

The following day most of the boats dis-

persed, either back to Finland or Estonia.

So what were our impressions of Russia as

first time visitors? We were very lucky to

go in as an unescorted group as I think this

gave us a much broader view than if we

had gone in as part of an escorted tour.

St Petersburg is a city of huge contrasts,

the divide between rich and poor is large

and very evident and especially so in Magnificent mosaic murals inside the Church on the Spilled Blood

The party admire the imposing fountains in the grounds of Peterhof

Catherine the Great’s summer palace at Peterhof

the Marina where we were berthed, with rank after rank of large, expensive motor yachts on one side and more ordi-

nary boats on the other.

Being rich in Russia brings its own problems: we witnessed the owner of the large motorboat moored next to us going

on board each day, flanked by two burly bodyguards.

The Metro is the best way for getting around, despite the fact that the nearest station to Central River YC is half an

hour’s walk away.


Well worth it though, as the Metro is

amazing with mosaics adorning

many of the stations. It is very clean

and trains run very frequently. It is

also the deepest metro in the world

as the land around St Petersburg is

very boggy.

I used the Metro to visit the largest

flea market I have ever seen, in the

northern part of the city. Here you

could buy almost anything, but the

most poignant memory was the

huge piles of second-hand clothes,

which were being snapped up by

eager buyers.

As you leave the Marina you see de-

serted houses and half-built facto-

ries, which are slowly falling into ru-

in.

Contrast this against magnificent

splendour of The Hermitage, with its

700 rooms, all decorated in the most

lavish way possible with gold leaf

everywhere.

Even more impressive was Peterhof,

bedecked in golden splendour, with

the most marvellous fountains and

lakes in the grounds.

Especially moving was St Peter and

Paul cathedral where all the Tsars

are buried, including Nicholas II with

his whole family and doctor and

servants, who were interred there

about ten years ago.

The reason that the doctor and serv-

ants are honoured with the royal

family is that before the executions

were carried out, they were offered

the chanced to leave, but they loyally

decided to stay with the family.

Another reminder of Russia’s turbu-

lent past was the Church on the

Spilled Blood, built on the sport that

Tsar Alexander II assassinated. It is a

splendid, onion-domed building with

mosaic murals inside.

I was also lucky enough to see the

very moving memorial to the siege

of Leningrad during WWII. It is esti-

mated that more than two million

people perished during the siege.

The main attractions were very

crowded and it was with some relief

that we got off the tourist track on

the Thursday with our trip out to

Repino and Repin’s house where he

lived and worked for many years.

The house is an eccentric delight,

designed by him and added to as his

needs dictated.

We had our share of culture in the

evenings, firstly with a very good

Russian folk show in which our own

Lee Dowell took a turn on the stage,

and very good he was too.

Then a visit to see the ballet Swan

Lake, which was lovely. A few of us

also visited the opera to hear a very

well executed performance of Mad-

ame Butterfly.

As most of us wanted to do a canal

trip, Vladimir organised this for us at

short notice. It turned out to be a

very good social evening, no doubt

helped by copious quantities of Rus-

sian champagne.

In fact, we were lucky to see the ca-

nals, as on the way out there our

boat was making very poor speed

and we were informed by the cap-

tain that he would have to turn back

as there was not enough time to see

the canals and take us back to the

marina. However, a few of us, in-

cluding Vladimir, prevailed upon him

and suddenly the boat found extra

speed and we got the trip we had

paid for!

No doubt the Russians have pro-

gressed a long way since the col-

lapse of the Soviet regime. Howev-

er, a huge amount remains to be

done and this is not helped by the

bureaucracy left over from the days

of Communism.

More worrying is the fact that there

is very little manufacturing industry

left in Russia today, as the working

practices and outdated plant are not

competitive against Western Europe

and the Far East.

Their main income source is the sell-

ing of natural resources, mainly oil

and gas, which is lining the pockets

of a few fortunate individuals. But,

no doubt they will find a way to

Repin’s House — an eccentric delight away from the crowds


overcome their difficulties as they have done in the past. It

will be a difficult journey though.

All our boats got safely through Russian customs on the re-

turn journey. However, a Russian coastguard vessel shad-

owed my own boat, when we were about two miles from the

border with Finland. They stayed with us for about a mile

before shearing off in a welter of spray and I breathed a huge

sigh of relief!

We cleared back into Finland at Santio, and the first words

from the Finnish border guard were “Welcome back to civili-

sation”.

Our adventure was over!

Would I go again? Yes, but not with my own boat—but don’t

let my feelings put off anyone who is contemplating going. I

am sure with Vladimir’s help you will be fine. If you have a

motorboat it is worth going for the fuel alone as it is only 64p

per litre.

On behalf of all rallygoers I must say a huge thank you to Vla-

dimir, without whose help things could have turned out very

differently. That man is a real star!

Without Graham and Fay the rally would have never even

have got off the ground. Their paperwork was excellent and

a real help to be whilst we were in Russia, as was their regu-

lar contact during the rally.

Thanks also to Kalevi and all the flag officers at HSK for their

generous welcome and for organising the social evening in

their splendid clubhouse.

Eric von Troil, HLR for Helsinki, left, and Vladimir Ivankiv, HLR for St Petersburg

David Haigh is an Australian ‘round the world’ sailor who joined the Cruising Association rally to St Petersburg.

His blog can be found at:

http://djhaigh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/passage-report-no-91-st-petersburg-to.html

It is a very personal opinion about the trip and makes for interesting reading.

Also, thanks to Martin and Hugh for collecting the

various harbour fees and lunch money and to our

excellent guide Natalia and to Vladimir’s daughter,

Marina, especially for her work at the customs

post.

Lastly, thank you everyone for making my job easy.

You were a great bunch of people to get to know.

The yachts on the rally were:

Adagio (motor) - Edward Creswick

Escapade (sail) - Tony Scott

Freya of Mersey (sail) - Tony Halliwell

Martha Gunn (motor) - Harry Standley**

Morwennol (sail) - Neil Bradshaw

Penoliam (sail) - Richard Holbrook

Pleione of Dee (sail) - Derek Matthews

Sahula (sail) - David Haigh

Seren Wib (sail) - Michael Phillips

Shadowmere (sail) - Ian McCrum

Symphony of Herm (motor) - Geoff Cullington

(retired hurt at Helsinki)

Toytown (sail) - Lee Dowell

Tryst (sail) - Hugh Maloney

**The crews on Harry Standley’s Nelson 40 “Martha Gunn”

included:

Erik & Helen Lodge

Martin Long

Grietje & Steve Brenner


Background to Rodney Agar’s article

“A Piece of History” to put this in context with Harry Standley’s piece about our trip to Russia in a Nelson 40

T he Gulf of Finland has at its eastern end Russia’s second city, St Petersburg (formerly Petrograd & Lenin-

grad), which was protected from seaborne invasion by Russia’s ‘Baltic Fleet’, stationed at the Island of

Kronstadt.

Kronstadt is a series of interlinked islands and fortresses which sit directly in front of St Petersburg and which, to-

day, have Dutch’built land links to both sides of the Gulf of Finland to protect St Petersburg from flooding.

Today then, as before, all shipping that enters Russia from the Gulf of Finland must pass through the island Port of

Kronstadt where its ominous customs post is situated.

Without a Russian guide this is an almost impossible thing to do and we were very pleased to have employed the

services of Vladimir Ivankiv through the Cruising Association. Harry’s Nelson 40 was the lead boat of an eleven

strong fleet, and not without incident did this modern fleet pass into and out of Russia!


A Piece of History

Coastal Motor Boats in the Baltic 1919 By Rodney Agar

During World War 1 in 1916, , the 40ft Coastal Motor Boat (CMB) was developed and built for the Royal Navy , using

designs by Sir John Thornycroft at Southampton. The hull was a wooden ‘stepped’ skimming hull, powered by a

120hp petrol engine, with a speed of 35 knots. This CMB design by Thornycroft was ahead of its time – a single

stepped hydroplane. It carried a single 18inch torpedo, or depth charges or mines, and a pair of Lewis guns, with a

crew of three, standing between two tanks of petrol ! The CMB was conceived to attack the German High Seas Fleet

in its bases, skimming over minefields., but the war ended before this plan could be brought to fruition.

Fifty years later, the Nelson 34 and 40ft hulls were developed by Cdr Peter Thornycroft (Sir John Thornycroft’s grand-

son), with a round bilge semi-displacement design. When comparing the two designs, there is a certain vague similari-

ty between the Nelson and the earlier 1916 CMB hydroplane, in the angle of bow and ‘flat running’ , although the

point of entry of the latter with its ‘step’ was well aft on

the waterline.

CMB’s first saw action in 1917 off Zeebrugge, when a Di-

vision of boats based at Dover sank a German destroyer

and damaged another. But it was not until 1919 that

these boats came into their own during Britain’s

“Undeclared War“ on Bolshevik Russia. In May 1919 two

CMB’s were sent to the Baltic under the direct orders of

‘C’, Captain Mansfield Cumming RN, Head of the Secret

Service, to run agents in and out of Petrograd from Fin-

land., The boats were to skim over the Russian minefields

and on for 30 miles through the chain of forts guarding

the Russian Naval Base of Kronstadt and Petrograd. The CMB’s were commanded by Lieutenant Augustus Agar RN,

and the whole party were in civilian clothes, masquerading as yacht salesmen!

This was a dangerous assignment, as the Russian Fleet had mutinied and executed all their officers. Capture or break-

down would have meant almost certain death, but they had also taken uniforms and a torpedo for each boat ‘just in

case’. After several successful courier runs, they observed Russian heavy ships bombarding a ‘White’ fortress opposite

Kronstadt, so, although against orders but with the support of Admiral Cowan , Commander of Britain’s Baltic Force,

Agar attacked and sank the Bolshevic armoured cruiser OLEG in its defended anchorage, with a single CMB. For this

action he was awarded the Victoria Cross together with other bravery decorations for his crew.

Quickly following up this success, the Admiralty mounted a full attack on the Russian Bolshevik Fleet in Kronstadt, us-

ing eight 55ft CMB’s also designed by Thornycroft . These were the only warships with shallow enough draft to pene-

trate the minefields. Two months later in August 1919, these CMB’s carried out a night attack, with Agar in his 40ft act-

ing as pathfinder, penetrating inside the harbour defences and sinking or disabling 2 battleships, a submarine depot

ship and a cruiser, for the loss of 3 CMB’s.

This was also the first co-ordinated action with the newly formed Royal Air Force , bravely flying at night from a rough

airstrip carved out nearby on the Finnish mainland. With this bold, offensive attack, the balance of Naval Power in the

Baltic was altered in favour of the British at a stroke. After this action, two VC ‘s were awarded to Commander Frank

Dobson RN, the flotilla commander , and Lieutenant Gordon Steele RN, and gallantry decorations to other Commanding

Officers and their crews. It was one of the most daring raids carried out in Coastal Forces history.

Coastal Motorboat (CMB4) setting off in the Caspian Sea


As the winter of 1919 drew in, and the Baltic started to ice up, the CMB’s were withdrawn to their base at Osea Is-land in Essex. They had played their part and shown that small, fast craft with a (then) deadly torpedo weapon load, handled with audacity and skill, could inflict serious damage on heavy ships in a defended harbour..

The Naval cuts in the 1920’s signalled the demise temporarily of Coastal Forces in the Royal Navy , and CMB’s were considered too small and with too light a weapon load to be kept in commission. Their base at Osea Island was closed down, many boats were scrapped and just a few kept on for harbour defence duties.

At the outbreak of World War II a few remaining 55ft CMB’s were used for harbour patrol and anti-submarine du-ties, rather than in the strike role for which they were designed. The advent of the fast and powerful German E boat proved a formidable adversary for British Coastal Forces and the CMB came to the end of its life, being superseded by the a new heavier breed of MTB’s and MGB’s. These were developed by Commander Peter du Cane at Vospers, and the Fairmile Boat Company, but it was not until 1943 that Coastal Forces could begin to match the E boat, The cuts in the Navy’s Coastal Forces between the wars left a gap which it took some years to fill.

CMB 04, the last remaining 40ft CMB , in which Augustus Agar won his VC, can be seen at the Imperial War Muse-um , Duxford, and it is hoped that one day soon this historic boat will be shown at the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth.

(Rodney Agar was one of the founder members of the Nelson Boat Owners Club and was very much involved with Peter Thornycroft in his early days of racing Nelsons and is the nephew of Captain Augustus Agar VC, DSO, RN.)

Nelsons at the Bembridge Rally - June 2013


Going Solo in ‘Windrift’ by

Aidan de la Mare

You do not need to be reminded what a poor Summer we had in 2012. It was not so much that the weather that was bad, it was more that the forecast each day said it was just about to be bad. So we kept putting off going anywhere, and hardly used Windrift at all. One unfortu-nate result was that incipient barnacles grew on the prop-

shafts inside the cutlass bearings, so that when we did at last go out they shredded the rubber of the bearings which had to be replaced. But there was one window of fine weather at the beginning of September that was too good to miss.

‘Windrift’ at Wareham Quay

As Ruth had opted out, I left Yarmouth, my home port,

on my own at 0700 in perfect motor boating weather -

flat calm. And followed in the wake, so to speak, of Paul

Gamsa who goes much further and for much longer on

his own in Seiren. I headed West to take the last of the

ebb tide through the Hurst Narrows to Poole Harbour to

do a bit of my favourite boating activity - creek crawling.

Travelling at economic displacement speed was a bit te-

dious, but at two hours to Poole Entrance it was not such

a long time. I anchored in White Ground Lake just south


of Brownsea Island, lowered the tender and rowed ashore. I have been visiting Poole all my life, but I had never yet walked on Brownsea Island -- it was a revela-tion. The National Trust seems to have found a perfect formula for keeping the place neat and tidy without los-ing its wildness, and it did not even have that ‘end of sea-son look’ that I had expected. And, even though I know that an awful lot of people go there in the tripper boats, I hardly met anyone.

After that I moved Windrift to South Deep to anchor again and do a bit of dinghy work around the very shal-low and deserted Newton Bay at high tide. Then I moved again to anchor for the night off Shipstal Point in the Wych Channel, which is one of the few places in Poole Harbour that is sheltered in East or West winds. And from there did some more dinghy excursions into the adjoining Arne Bay, which is too shallow for all but the smallest boat.

Next morning began with fog so dense that I could see neither the shore nor the other yachts that were an-chored nearby. This gradually cleared so I could leave at 1030 to head towards Hamworthy and the Wareham Channel.

But off Hamworthy the fog was still as thick as ever, so I put the radar on its closest setting of half a mile. With that I could pick out every yacht on the many moorings, and even the unoccupied mooring buoys. It was also possible to identify the pairs of navigation buoys, and check them off when they came into view. I could also recognize the few boats that were under way because their echoes were moving, and I could only hope that they could ‘see’ me as well. There was a moment of anx-iety when, after the moorings had ended, two motor-boats appeared suddenly out of the fog on the opposite course, one of which was the Nelson Dickens. I stopped and they passed clear ahead, and almost immediately

Adrian creek crawling in the tender

the fog cleared to bright sunshine all the rest of the way to Wareham.

There is a six knot speed limit in that part of the Harbour so I ran on one engine which was much quieter. Just where the channel becomes the River Frome I came across a yacht firmly aground on the edge of the channel. We agreed that the tide would probably float her off in an hour or so, but I said that when I came back down the river I would give them a tow off if necessary. But they got off on their own, however I noted that the beacons are deceptively placed and the mud extends further into the channel than indicated. The river is narrow and winding with yachts moored on one side almost all the way to Wareham, so that much care is required particu-larly as quite large tripper boats use it as well. Although free for a short stay, there is also very little room along-

side the Quay at Wareham, and half of it is reserved for the tripper boats, but I was able to lie alongside a yacht

for a brief visit to my favourite shops in the town.

Back in the Harbour I looked in at Poole Quay which was busy as ever with many tripper boats, and some huge Sunseeker motor yachts fitting out on the Hamworthy side. Too busy for my taste, so I went back to the Wych Channel to anchor off Long Island as the breeze had gone Easterly. I took the tender on up the Wych channel as far as I could get at that state of tide. It is difficult navigating the creeks of Poole Harbour, as most of the time the wa-ter outside the channels is only inches deep, but one can-not see where the channel runs, so it is necessary to row the boat and feel the edge of the channel with the oars.


Another idyllic quiet night passed into another brilliant sunny morning. I got under way at 0730 and trickled gen-tly across the Harbour to White Ground Lake to anchor

there again, so quietly that the yacht next to me did not hear me arrive, and was surprised to find he had a neigh-bour when he looked out. I had another walk on Brown-sea Island in the quiet of the morning, meeting some of the red squirrels that are now found in Southern England only here and on the isle of Wight.

I had intended to leave in the afternoon to carry the flood tide back to Yarmouth, but the breeze began to fill in, so I left at 1200, and opened the taps to 2000 revs to hasten my return in the roughening waters to reach my home port at 1320. It had been a very modest cruise that might be seen as un-nelson-ly, but Windrift was a nice comforta-ble place to stay and admirably easy to handle by one per-son. And she allowed me to do some of my favourite creek exploration in what was perhaps the best short break of good weather that the Summer gave us.

Poole Harbour from Brownsea Island




2014 Programme of Events

Date Event Venue Contact

22nd March 2014 Dutch Spring Lunch North-Line Shipyard, Harlingen Hans Hofsteenge

[email protected]

20th-22nd June 2014 UK Summer Rally Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Steve Brenner

[email protected]

22nd June 2014 UK Summer Cruise Isle of Wight to Channel Islands Paul Gamsa

[email protected]

29th—31st August 2014 Dutch Summer Rally Biesbosch National Park,

Rotterdam

Andries de Nachtegaal

[email protected]

Date to be confirmed 2014 UK Winter Lunch To be confirmed Graham Hitchcock

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]







www.nelsonyachts.co.uk

Following Simon’s death, Harry Standley and Steve Brenner have decided to continue this brokerage.

We are actively looking for Nelsons, and other semi-displacement motor boats for the brokerage and will

be launching a new, more user-friendly, website in March 2014

After a long period in the doldrums, we believe that the boat market is now showing signs of upward

movement.

If you are looking to buy or sell a Nelson or similar type of boat, or just wish to discuss the possibility,

please contact either:

Steve on 07803 202311

Harry on 07778 682909




In Memorium

Simon Mayes 1938—2013

Wreath laying ceremony — June 2013

Bembridge, Isle of Wight

Simon doing what he loved

newsletter - nelson boat owners club · john simmonds organised a ring your own food and drink...

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